Voices In Our Heads
Peter woke up screaming.
The Brillo pad, split open your skull, disembodying feeling was back, but it seemed slightly different this time. As if it were only scraping against the surface of his brain rather than tearing his entire self out.
“Peter?”
His senses were whacked, his hearing was all fuzzy, but he almost could have sworn that was Mr. Stark’s voice.
“Peter?” The voice sounded even more concerned this time.
Slowly, Peter opened his eyes. His vision blurred for a moment, but even when it refocused he saw two pairs of brown eyes staring down at him.
After a few seconds, he realized they belonged to Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner.
“Peter?” Mr. Stark asked again.
“Mr. Stark-“ Peter looked up at his mentor’s disheveled face. “You look like shit.”
He hadn’t meant to say the second part, but he could tell by the way the corners of Mr. Stark’s mouth twitched up that it was the right thing to say.
“Glad to have you back, kiddo.” He ruffled Peter’s hair.
“Where exactly was I?”
Mr. Stark spent the next twenty minutes filling Peter in on what had happened after Peter was kidnapped.
“Hey, if I let you out of those restraints, your not going to try to kill me, right kiddie?”
“Depends on how many bad jokes you make.”
Mr. Stark laughed, but still hesitated.
“I can keep them on, if it makes you feel safer,” Peter offered. “I don’t mind.”
His mentor stared at him for a moment before flatly stating “I’m not afraid of you, kid.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
He sat for a minute before starting to undo the restraints anyway. “Octavius said that he killed you, Pete. I was afraid that he was telling the truth.”
Peter watched Mr. Stark attempt to blink away the tears in his eyes. He scooted a little bit closer.
I’mhere.
They sat in the somber mood for a moment before Mr. Stark broke the silence.
“Besides kid, now I have backup if you do try to attack.”
Peter grinned. “I dunno, I think I could take the Hulk.”
Mr. Stark lightly punched Peter’s shoulder. “It’s not the Hulk you should worry about, it’s Banner!”
They laughed, and there was something in the warmth of it that made everything feel alright.
Something like family.